This invention pertains to tools, and more particularly to hand-held power tools.
In several types of hand-held power tools, such as a power drill, a bit or similar specialized piece must be rigidly connected to the rotating or other power source before the power is turned on and the tool is brought to bear on the workpiece. For example, a hand-held drill may be capable of accommodating a variety of bit sizes, the choice of bit depending on the size of the hole or the nature of the material to be drilled. Typically, a chuck is disposed at the outer portion of the drill shaft. A chuck key is required to adjust the size of the mouth of the chuck, and to tighten the chuck around the bit after it has been inserted.
Since the key is typically much smaller than the drill and not usually furnished with its own convenient storage container, some attempts have been made in the prior art to adapt the tool to carry the key and thus have it readily available whenever the chuck is to be adjusted. Most previous attempts to mount the key on the main body or handle of the drill involved a simple spring clip into which the key was pushed for mounting. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,821,436, an L-shaped chuck key is shown mounted within the side of the tool housing. In that arrangement, a spring is loaded into the blind end of a hole for receiving one leg of the key and the other leg is inserted within a cross passage after the spring is loaded by insertion of the key. As the exposed leg is moved out of the cross passage, the loaded spring urges the key outwardly from the housing so that it can be fully removed.
These prior attempts at mounting the key within the housing were generally unsafe, unsightly, difficult to use, or relatively expensive to manufacture.